Q1 2020 Manhattan Market Report

2020 started with a strong January and February but took a sharp turn coming into March due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Social distancing guidelines have undoubtedly disrupted the commercial real estate industry which lives on face-to-face interaction. Due to non-essential business closures and government mandated stay-at-home orders, office leasing has slowed tremendously seeing its worst quarter since 2013. Leasing volume for the quarter totaled 6.82M SF dropping nearly 50% since last quarter. Overall Manhattan rents rose from $77.30 last quarter to $78.13 this quarter and total availability rate saw a slight rise from 12.1% to the current 12.2%.